Heat exchange device



' Jan. 8,l 1946.

R. H. AMAND E-rAL,

HEAT EXCHANGE DEVICE 3 sheets-sheet 1l Filed March 23, 1942 Jan. 8, 1946.v R,`||'. AMAND E-rAl. I 4 2,392,444

HEAT EXCHANGE DEVICE Filed kann 23, 1942 s sheets-sheet 2 Jamil/8, 1946.l R. H. AMAND ETAL 2,392,444

- HEAT EXCHANGE DEVICE Filed March 23, 1942 5 Sheets-sheet s u 15 l @a Patented Jan. 8, 1946 Raymond Henri Amand, Norwalk, and Jean C.

Dannos, Darien, Conn., assgnors to General,

AAircraft Equipment,

Inc.,

South Norwalk.

Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application March 23, 1942, Serial No. 435,886 In France May 9, 1940 2 Claims.

This invention relates to radiators and particularly, though not exclusively, to radiators for oil for aircraft internal combustion engines.

Heretofore it has been customary to provide some form of .radiator for the oil of internal combustion engines used in aircraft. Such radiators are necessary for cooling the oil which during use becomes subjected to high temperatures. 'Oil radiators which have been used for this purpose have lacked emciency particularly where the aircraft on which they were located attained high altitudes at which the temperature of the atmosphere is very low. At low temperatures there is naturally a tendency for the oil to coagulate ory congeal on those heat exchange surfaces of the radiator which are directly exposed to the atmosphere, and such coagulation is highly detrimental to the efliciency of the radiator. f

The principal object of the invention is to provide an arrangement for radiators which effects a more efficient heat exchange under all conditions of temperature.

Another and more specific object of the invention resides in the provision of an arrangement for oil radiators which tends to overcome the tendency of the oil to coagulate or congeal on the heat exchange surfaces directly exposed to the action of air at low temperatures. i

Another and more specc object of the inve tion resides in the provision of an arrangement for oil radiators to insure better eiiiciency of heat exchange surfaces by a special arrangement which removes cold oil film from the walls of the passageways.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of an oil radiator of the lamellar type, the elements of which are disposed in pax"- allel relationship. While radiators are known which have elements disposed in parallel rela.- tionship, the elements of such radiators are formed and constructed so as to have a tendency to poor circulation caused by unequal element ares, or irregular air iiow passing between elements, resulting in a drop in supply inone or several elements in which the oil is subjected to an increasing cooling effect. Such effect retards through is directed at angles towards the walls of the radiator. y

These and other objects of the invention will be more apparent from the drawings, in which: Figure l is a diagrammatic elevation of an oil radiator made in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the embodiment. of Figure 1 ofthe invention- Figure 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line IlI--III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a partial view on the-line IV-IV oi Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of another embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the embodi mentof Figure. Figure 7 is a view partially in section showing the disposition of the embodiment of Figures 5 and'6 in the bend of an air conduit.

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 3 but showing a. modified form. Y

Figure 9 is a partial view on the 1in :Di-'1X of Figure 8. Y

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 8, but showing a modied form of the invention.

As previously indicated, oil radiators used heretofore have been subject to the disadvantage that when operated at high altitude or under conditions where the temperature of the air is low, the oil would tend to congeal on certain of the surfaces ofthe oil passageway and thus poor circulation would result. Where the oil congealed it would form an insulation layer preventing or however, an added expense, aside from presenting problems of increased space consumption' and added weight.

In accordance with the present invention, an' oil radiator is designed in'such a manner that` the path of the oil is sinuous and is so formed as to direct the oil at angles with respect to the Awalls of the radiator and thus set up forces which tend to prevent the coagulation of oil on the radiator walls under low temperature conditions.

establishment of normal conditions in all of the` I elements. Y

The invention has for another object the provision of an oil radiator the elements of which are constructed so that the oil passing there- As shown in the drawings, the radiator is constructed of elements A which, for example (seeA Figure 3) are constituted essentially by two walls I and 2, the 'end edges 3 of which are held tight against a common gasket, las will be described.

The two walls are separated so as to provide a vertical passage for the oil. According to onel form of the invention the forces described above are effected by corrugating the walls insuch a fashion that the projecting part of an undulation 4 of one of the walls is disposed opposite the recessed portion of an undulation of the other wall.

As will be noted from the drawings, the oil will thus travel in a direction transversely of the undulations and in a sinuous path, as is clearly evident from Figure 3, in which the arrowed line indicates the path of travel. Each of the elements' A may be given any appropriate shape such as will cause the oil to strike the surfaces of the elements at an angle or will set up eddy currents, thus preventing the coagulation of oil on the inner surfaces. y

One shape for the elements is shown in Figure 4, which is a view of two of the elements taken on the line IV-IV of Figure 3 and from which it should also be apparent that a series of adjacent sinuous passages may be effected by joiningv .the two plates I and 2 at the transverse points marked '.i.l In such embodiment the elements A of one set of plates are disposed in staggered relation, so that the air space between one element A and the next element is sinuous in a transverse direction in the direction of the air now f2.

Advantageously, a radiator constructed of such elements may be of the lamellar type.

The elements A, constructed as described, can be` grouped in any appropriate manner, and several different groupings are indicated in the drawings, such as in Figures 1 and 2, and Figures 5, 6, and 7.

Taking the simplest arrangement, namely that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the reference numeral 6 indicates the inlet conduit for the oil. The oil entering the inlet conduit 6 passes downwardly through a corrugated element as indicated by the arrows at the right hand side of Figure 1. At the bottom of this iigure the elements are shown as extending all the way across, and the oil at the bottom thus passes transversely across the radiator, up the other side through another corrugated element, and then out through the outlet conduit 1. In this iigure the direction of the air is indicated by the horizontal arrows in dicated by the reference character l2. From the plan view in Figure 2 and the enlarged detail section (Figure 3) it will be manifest that a series of the elements A, each constructed of plates I and '2, is provided, with the elements disposed adjacent but spaced from each other.

Another grouping is shownin Figures 5, 6, and 7. In this embodiment (see Figure 5) the oil is shown as passing from the inlet conduit V8 through a series of the elements A, then through anV outlet 1 and through a connecting .conduit 8 to the inlet 6 of a second group o! the elements, and finally out through an outlet conduit 1 of the second group. Each of the two groups of elements shown in this gure is constituted in the manner described above, and as shown, for example, in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawings. As

` illustrated in Figures 5, 6, and 7, groups of eiements may be so designed as to take care of the situation where the radiator is disposed in the bend of an air conduit II as shown specically vconduit 8 to the lower group of elements and iinally out the outlet conduit 1. The respective elements A in these groups are disposed so that the air. indicated by the reference character f1,

strikes the elements at an angle such as indicated in Figure 7, by the reference character a. The elements are disposed so as to aid in directing the air around the bend in the conduit II and also to direct the air against the elements at an angie, thus obtaining the, maximum cooling eiect.

With particular reference now to Figure 3, which shows in greater detail the construction of the vplates and the manner in which they are ydisposed to form sinuous passages for the oil, it

will be noted that the outlet conduit 1 has its inner end formed in the shape of a restricted annulus I6. Within the tube 1, near the restricted annulus, is a spider II provided with an opening through which passes the threaded end of a securing bolt I3. Adjacent the restricted annulus I6 is a series of ring members I8, each of which has a periphery of U-shaped or channelshaped cross section and an inwardly protruding edge of lesser diameter or of a diameter substantially equal to that of the annulus I6. Such construction permits a series of such members I8 to be disposed adjacentvone another in tted relation.

This series of membersv I8 is secured to the outlet conduit 1 by means of a securing element I9 having an inward depression 20 provided with an opening through which the other end of the bolt I3 passes. with a nut, and the members I8 after being fitted together lare thus secured to the outlet conduit 1 by positioning the securing element I9 and then tightening the nuts on the bolt I3.

Each of the elements A is secured by having its upper edges 2l and 22 disposed orvclamped between the surfaces of the U-shaped portions of the members I8. Small spacer or packing members 24 may also be disposed between the members I8. Solder or other means may also be used.

The members I8 are provided with openings 23 through which oil emerging from the sinuous passages between the plates I and 2 of each element A may ow to the outlet conduit 1 as shown by the arrows. It will be manifest that with the arrangements described it is possible to build up radiators having one or many elements A.

In Figures 8 and 9 a somewhat similar construction is shown but this. construction differs from that illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 in that the elements constituting the sinuous oil passages are made as shown in Figure 9, which is a view 'of two of the elements taken on the line IX-IX of Figure 8. In such construction the 'width of the elements A is 'greater than thatl vmembers I8, or by soldering or otherwise. lThe members I8 are clamped in position by means o the nutson the bolt I3 as in Figure 3.

A quite similar embodiment is illustrated in the modification shown in Figure 10. This modification diiers from that shown in Figure 8 principally in that the sinuous passageway for the oil constituted by the corrugated wens l and z is Each end of the bolt is provided rendered even more tortuous, by disposing therein small deflecting plates I5. In other respects the embodiment is similar to that illustrated in Figure 8. By reason of these deecting plates the oil is caused to strike the walls of the passageway at rather acute angles. Still further, eddy currents are set up so that, lall in all, the hydro` dynamic forces set up overcome the tendency of the oil to coagulate or con'geal on the surfaces of the passageway.

Other embodiments of the invention will suggest themselves. It is obvious, moreover, that changes in construction land arrangement may be made without departing from the invention.

We claim:

1. A cylindrical conduit, a plurality of radiator elements, each'of said elements being formed of being disposed adjacent one another on the axis of said conduit adjacent the end of said conduit, a closure' member for the end ring, mechanism for ciamping said rings between said closure member and'said conduit with the edges of said plates between the'channel shaped portions oi adjacent rings, said rings having openings therein connecting, the interior of the rings and the a pair of plates disposed face to face with portions of said plates being spaced to form the walls of a sinuous passageway, a plurality of said pairs conduit with said passageways.

2. In an oil radiator, an oil passageway constructed from twoplates disposed face to face and joined at the edges, said plates being spaced from each other intermediate the edges, said spaced intermediate portions forming the oil passageway, inlet and outlet means for said passageway, the walls of said passageway being cor` rugated transversely to the direction of ow of the oil therein, a plurality of deecting plates disposed in said passageway, said plates being secured at one end to the walls of the passageway and extending inwardly in the dir ection of now at'angles causing the oil to strike the walls of the passageway and thus prevent the formation of an oil lm on the walls of the passageway.

RAYMOND HENRI AMAND. JEAN C. DANINOS. 

